A Short History of Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Parish

Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Parish in Scottsdale, AZ was established by Bishop Edward McCarthy of the Diocese of Phoenix on July 30, 1974. Father Emmett J. FitzPatrick was appointed the first pastor. A 10-acre property on 64th Street was purchased prior to the parish establishment as the site of the future church. The community began celebrating Masses at Chaparral High School on September 8, 1974. Under the leadership of its new pastor, Father FitzPatrick, mass attendance quickly grew to over 1,000 per week.

Groundbreaking for the new church took place on October 7, 1974. With many new parishioners involved, much time was devoted to selecting the design of the new parish, including a trip to Sedona to visit the Tlaquepaque Arts and Shopping Village. The unanimous consent was to build a Spanish colonial-style complex with mission roof tiles, arches, and an off-white exterior. The building of the church, social hall, and rectory was truly a community effort, with hundreds of new parishioners investing their time, talents, and treasure, painting walls, finishing woodwork, planting trees, and completing all the unexpected tasks that arose. A 184-member committee spearheaded a successful fund-raising effort.

After nearly three years of construction, the church was completed in August 1977. The first mass was held in the 750-seat church on October 1, 1977. Bishop James S. Rausch of the Diocese of Phoenix dedicated the church and parish complex on October 30, 1977. In 1987, the FitzPatrick Center was constructed to add religious education classrooms and meeting space. The building was dedicated in December 1987. In 1994, additional classrooms were built for the religious education program, which now included a preschool. In 1998, the chapel and Parish Life Center were also completed.

Blessed Sacrament became and is a truly vibrant and welcoming community where all people are welcome and can grow in and share their faith.

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50th Jubilee Celebration

“Our Jubilee, our 50th year as a parish, provides us with the opportunity to renew our parish, to breathe new life back into and rebuild our community.”

Blessed Sacrament Roman Catholic Parish was established in July of 1974. Our parish is celebrating its 50th Jubilee year! This milestone is a testament to the faith, dedication, and love of God that has flourished within our community over the past fifty years.

Join your parish family as we celebrate 50 years of service together!

50th Jubilee Mass & Gala – October 19, 2024

We thank Melissa Kapanicas for kindly stepping forward as our Volunteer Lead for our 50th Jubilee Gala!  More than 15 individuals joined the Gala Committee to solicit auction donations, help with logistics, and decorate the courtyard and Social Hall. The fundraising Gala included a social hour in the courtyard with a silent auction, and a plated dinner.

MASS PHOTO GALLERY GALA PHOTO GALLERY

An inspiring program with a video showcasing the history of our parish within the context of the tremendous growth of Scottsdale and the Diocese of Phoenix.

A live auction featured incredible trips and more!  All these wonderful festivities followed a beautiful Vigil Mass celebrated by Bishop John Dolan and Father Kilian McCaffrey and Father Samuel concelebrating. 

All our Liturgical Ministers. Gala Night Emcees: Charles DeLaney, Mick Kapanicas, Butch Mara. Music: Richard Palalay. Photographer: Tim Sell. 50^th Jubilee Videographer: Hector Limon, Limon Media Group.

50th Jubilee Commemorative Book 

One per household FREE!

Jim Ward graciously led this monumental effort with a small but mighty committee of three. Lara Vineyard and Amy English joined Jim contributing endless hours of their time sifting through parish, city and Diocese of Phoenix historical data, parishioner and clergy story submissions, and photos of every size, shape and condition. The team thoughtfully reviewed all contributions, eventually creating a beautiful parish historical record and lovely 50th Jubilee keepsake. The Book Committee Team was buoyed by the Archives Committee and the research they had painstakingly categorized over the last five years. Volunteers looked through old photo albums and records while dedicated collaborators, including parishioners, clergy, and priests, past and present, shared their stories of fifty years of faith and fellowship. The 50th Jubilee Commemorative Book chronicles the early days of the mid 70s when the oasis of our church campus was established from the barren desert. Each page allows you to explore every detail of the years that followed as our parish grew in tandem with the tremendous growth of the surrounding City of Scottsdale.

“Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” is the theme for this half-century review of our parish community and all who have prayed and served together here for the Greater Glory of God.

Pastor Installation Mass for Father Kilian McCaffrey with Bishop John Dolan and 50th Jubilee Family Reception 

Saturday, September 14, 2024, our parish family joined together at 4:00pm as Bishop John Dolan presided at the Pastor Installation Mass for Father Kilian McCaffrey.  The celebration continued in the Social Hall afterwards where Bishop John congratulated our parish at our 50th Jubilee Family Reception!

Special thanks to Committee Members: Jan Consolino, Betsy Sherf, Addie Mocca, Donna Rau-Link, Janet Darveaux, Lauri Cooney, Charles Clark and Rosemary Stelmach

And our many contributors including:

• Life Teen and Edge for the unique 50th Jubilee Art Project for all to decorate,
• Blessed Sacrament Women’s Community for our Kids’ Cookie Decorating Station,
• Knights of Columbus for contributing the delicious Ice Cream,
• The Saint Vincent De Paul team for managing a Hot Dog Stand

Thank you again to all our parishioners for making the evening so beautiful. It was another great opportunity to mark our 50th Jubilee year in faith and fellowship with many of our Young Families Group and Cup Scout Pack 618 members!

VIEW PHOTO GALLERY

Help with the various 50th Jubilee activities this year!

Have your own ideas about how we should celebrate this important parish milestone? Share your ideas or volunteer for our various 50th Jubilee activities by contacting Mary Ellen Brown at mebrown@bscaz.org. We look forward to involving everyone in this exciting 50th Jubilee year!